On a Rainy Night
by TRikiD
Summary: After failing twice in a row to win Retsuko's affection, Haida starts to think he'll never find the right girl. The good news is, a new girl shows up at the office and gets Haida's attention. The bad news is, she and Haida have crossed paths before, and it only brings trouble for them both.
1. Chapter 1 - Fate is Weird

On a Rainy Night

Chapter 1 - Fate is Weird

After once again being humiliated by going on a drunken walk on the streets, Haida lay flat on his back on the cold concrete as the rain fell. Just like the first time this happened to him, he felt the need to call someone in case he was severely injured again. So, he called the one person who wouldn't hesitate to be completely honest with him.

"Hey, Fenneko. What's up?" Haida asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, you know! Same-old, same-old!" Fenneko quickly replied, fearing that she might break Haida's heart if she said something about the article with Retsuko and Tadano.

"Yeah, me, too. Just, uh…chillin' out."

"So, you didn't read—the article?"

Haida couldn't help but chuckle, "Oh, I did. Even that one part about wedding bells…heh-heh."

Fenneko began to sweat, "Yeah, where do these stupid rumors come from? Just stay calm! Don't do anything you'll regret!"

"And what kinda stuff would that be?"

"Wandering all over town drunk, but you kick a can and fall flat on your back like last time."

"Ooohhh—did that right before I called ya."

"Why are you such a dumbass?" Fenneko sighed with disappointment.

"Because I'm drunk," Haida simply stated.

"Want me to call you an ambulance?"

"No…I think I can move."

With that, Haida grunted in great pain as he sat up, his back and hips aching terribly from the fall.

"I should be able ta make it home," Haida reassured after brining the phone back up to his ear.

"If you say so. I'll be up for about another half hour if you need anything," Fenneko informed.

"Thanks. See ya."

"Bye."

The two co-workers hung up at that, and Haida rubbed his temples and sighed heavily. He fails to comprehend why he keeps doing this to himself, especially since Retsuko has obviously already moved on. And if he really does care about her, being great friends with her should be enough for him, right?

Right?

"Can I _still_ be any more pathetic?" Haida groaned.

"That's a matter of perspective, Mister," a raspy voice suddenly answered, startling Haida. He looked around for the source of the new voice, and squinted into the darkness to see a silhouette of a woman leaning against a building a few feet away.

The stranger then began to approach, stepping under a street light and allowing Haida to take in more of her features. It was a spotted hyena, just like Haida; she was clad in a black trench coat that brought out her curves, simple black flats, and a blue and white-striped scarf around her neck.

As she stared down at Haida, she wore a conniving smirk that made it seem like she was always scheming, or at least constantly thinking about something not safe for work.

"Yeah, well, this perspective is a literal pain in the ass," Haida answered with a huff.

"Know what else is a pain in the ass? Being alone on such a wonderful and romantic night like this," the female hyena added, the sarcasm in her tone painfully obvious.

"Believe it or not, it's romance that got me inta this mess."

"Oh, yeah? What, did she turn you down? Or was it a he? I'm not judgin'."

Haida rolled his eyes, "No, it's a woman—the perfect woman, actually."

"If she's so perfect, then how come you're not spooning her back at your place right now?"

Haida opened his mouth to argue, but he honestly couldn't think of anything legit to retort with. After a few seconds, he realized that this woman could be right. After everything that's happened between them, Retsuko is still willing to stay friends with him, and he still can't let well enough alone. He figured that maybe Retsuko's kindness and will to forgive people are two traits about her that he just can't resist.

"Hey, Stranger!" the woman snapped, finally bringing Haida out of his thoughts, "You've been zonin' for a couple minutes. You sure your fall didn't give you a concussion?"

"My head's fine," Haida protested while attempting to stand again, but his shaky arms gave out from under his weight due to his buzz still being in affect.

"Yeah, ok, you're clearly not gonna make it more than five feet. C'mon, Mister."

With that, the woman extended a hand to help him up, and he reluctantly grabbed it and let her pull him to his feet. Once he was standing again, Haida swayed back and forth in his drunken state, and it didn't help that his back and hips were still aching badly. Noticing this, the stranger let him lean against her shoulder for support and slowly began to walk with him.

"So, you nearly risked breaking your back and getting pneumonia for a woman?" the woman piped up, hoping to strike up a conversation as she pulled out an umbrella and opened it.

"Yes. You don't need ta rub it in," Haida sighed in defeat.

"I'm not rubbing it in, I'm just saying that if you're lookin' for love and/or pleasure, you're just lookin' in the wrong place."

Haida cocked a brow at her, giving her motivation to continue, "Sometimes, people confuse a romantic relationship with a long night of carnal knowledge. It's normally what they really need, but they choose ta deny it since they don't want everyone else ta think so little of 'em."

"Gee, I wonder why," Haida stated shakily, as his face turned as red as a tomato and hotter than a furnace. He was starting to confirm his theory that her grin was more for seductive purposes than anything that goes on in her twisted head…and he was falling prey to it.

_Curse my dirty, alcohol-induced thoughts, _he mentally scolded himself.

"Oh, it's no mystery. Trust me. Everyone wants pleasure, it's part of being human. It's our motivations that tend ta either label us as good or bad—and I don't really know what I'd call mine," the woman continued to speak.

"W-What do ya mean?" Haida asked out of curiosity.

"Let's just say that today's my last day of real freedom, so I'm tryin' ta live it up as much as possible. And I won't lie, one of my final requests is a one-night stand with a decent guy who won't care about who I am or where I'm going afterwards. It's just supposed ta be a one-time thing, after all. Isn't that why they call it a '_one-night_ stand'?"

"Yeah…I guess."

Haida thought about her words more thoroughly. Sure, her reasons are crazy at the very least, but some of what she said made a tiny bit of sense to him. It's human to desire pleasure and do nearly almost anything to get it; always has been, always will be. But had he been denying his own pleasures, too? Maybe he had been so focused on a lovey-dovey relationship with Retsuko—or any girl, for that matter—that thoughts of sex never came to mind. Not with the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, at least.

And the more Haida thought about it, the more he realized his attempts to win Retsuko's heart were really futile. It seemed that every time he tried, he ended up in the hospital one way or another, so fate obviously wasn't backing up his decision to be in a relationship with her.

Maybe this random woman could fix that.

"So—is that an invitation?" Haida finally spoke.

* * *

With Haida's acceptance, he and the strange woman came to an agreement to help each other, but only for this one night. She helped him back to his apartment, and even helped him undress since he was still very sore. But once Haida was dried off and lying back on his bed, he let her take control.

As the dim light of the street lamps outside shown into the room, and the rain pitter-pattered gently against the window, the two hyenas became one for a short time. Despite still being sore, Haida proved to have some stamina left, to which the woman was not complaining. As her breasts bounced from him thrusting underneath her, her cries of pleasure echoed within the room. Haida wasn't very quiet either, as he constantly moaned and huffed loudly while keeping a tight grip on her hips.

He found it difficult to keep going at some points during their heated session, though, for he found himself fighting with the temptation of pounding Retsuko into a mattress. Haida just couldn't imagine her sweet, innocent, lovable face being on the body meant for such relief, so he kept closing his eyes to block out any and all thoughts of her.

Eventually, the two finally came down from an intense climax, and they hastily separated to prevent any of their hormones from making them all sentimental towards one another. Haida continued to lay on his back and stare at the ceiling, panting heavily after losing so much energy; the woman turned away and sat at the edge of the bed, stretching a bit and lazily looking out the window.

"Not bad, Stranger. Not bad," she commented with a sigh.

"Uh, thanks…you were…pretty good, too," Haida admitted between huffs, "So…you restin' for a bit, or…?"

"Nah, I don't wanna take up too much space. Besides, we both agreed on no snugglin', remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, I-I remember! Just thought I'd be hospitable, is all."

"You're a nice guy, but just make sure that that naivety doesn't get your ass kicked." She paused as she stood to slip her pants on. "Isn't that how you ended up on that sidewalk in the first place?"

Haida's eyes widened in realization and offense, once again failing to find anything valid to say in response. The woman never spoke after that, as she walked around the room in search of the rest of her clothes and belongings.

"So, uh…" Haida broke the awkward silence, "What's happening tomorrow that's got you scared of losing your freedom?"

"I thought we also said we weren't gonna ask about backgrounds," the woman sighed in disappointment.

"I-I know, I know! I just-."

"Wanna be hospitable?"

"Uh…yeah, pretty much."

The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes, "I start working at a new job tomorrow, and I haven't worked in nearly a year. I've gotten so used to doing whatever I wanted, it was just a real wake-up call when I remembered I didn't have a lot of money left. Satisfied now?"

"In more ways than one," Haida chuckled seductively, placing his arms behind his head and preparing for sleep.

"Amen ta that, Lover Boy," the woman stated snidely before finally leaving the apartment, shutting the door hard the make sure Haida knew she was gone.

After once again finding himself alone in his apartment, Haida noticed that he didn't feel as depressed as he normally would in this situation. He figured it could only be because he had just gotten laid, and his happiness was probably boosted by the alcohol that still influenced his thoughts. All in all, the night might've started out pretty bad, but the ending totally made up for it in his opinion.

* * *

Haida felt even more drained and sore the next morning, and it didn't help that he still had to go to work. He took some aspirin in hopes of easing the pain, and ignored it as he made his way to work. As Haida walked into the men's locker room, he hoped he didn't fail to clean up any signs of his one-night stand before arriving. Just to be sure, Haida buttoned up his shirt and pulled up his collar to hide any hickeys he might have missed.

"You look terrible," Ookami pointed out after closely examining Haida's droopy eyelids, slouched form and unkempt fur.

"Gee, thanks," Haida growled sarcastically.

"Fenneko mentioned something about you being in another accident."

"Of course she did."

"Either way, you feelin' alright?"

"Define 'alright'."

Ookami chuckled lightly, "Fair enough."

"Hey, did you guys hear about the new hire we're getting today?" a new voice cut into the conversation, as Haida and Ookami turned to find Anai approaching.

"Another one?" Ookami asked out of surprise.

"I hope they're not another fresh grad—no offense, Anai," Haida awkwardly pointed out.

"None taken," Anai stated while glaring at the hyena, but shook away his thoughts of texting him threats later to continue, "Anyway, I heard they're supposed to start working first thing today."

"You know anything else?" Haida questioned with a quirked brow, to which Anai shook his head, "Figures. Let's just go meet this mystery hire, then. I'm probably gonna have ta help train them, too."

As the three men walked out of the locker room, Anai's eyes skimmed frantically over Haida's body, trying to take in his overall appearance.

"You look terrible. Were you really in an accident like Fenneko said?" Anai finally asked.

Haida didn't even have the energy to answer, so he merely groaned in agony while picking up the pace. They soon made it to their office in accounting, and sat down while waiting to see if Ton would introduce the new hire soon. But as Haida sat and waited, another pair of trained eyes were suddenly glued to him.

"I knew you'd look terrible," Fenneko said flatly.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?!" Haida snapped.

"Because it's true."

"Alright, everyone! Listen up!" Ton boomed, effortlessly getting everyone's full attention, "I'd like you all ta meet our brand new hire…"

The room went silent as the sound of heels clicking could be heard, and the "new employee" slowly walked to the center of the room in front of Ton's desk. And while everyone else was either mildly curious or couldn't care less about the identity of this new employee, Haida couldn't believe his eyes.

* * *

**If it wasn't obvious, Haida is my favorite character from Aggretsuko, so I couldn't help but write a fanfic for him. The poor guy deserves some lovin', and he clearly got someXD**

**Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2 - It was Inevitable

Chapter 2 - It was Inevitable

Everyone continued to stare, either directly at the new employee's face or just off into nothingness. But no one paid more attention to anything than Haida.

As if fate couldn't screw with Haida enough, the new employee was none other than the female hyena he slept with the night before.

"Hi, everyone. My name's Mishana Makimura, but you can call me Misha for short," the hyena began to explain nonchalantly while shrugging.

Haida couldn't help but notice that she was not wearing the same revealing clothes or trench coat she wore last night, and for obvious reasons. Now, she was wearing the formal blue dress shirt with a white undershirt, khaki pants and dress shoes meant to be worn by most of the employees in accounting.

Despite wearing much more appropriate clothing than last night, Haida couldn't help but imagine Mishana in more revealing attire. Thoughts from last night started flooding his mind, and his face began to heat up while his crotch began to ache for attention. Haida didn't even notice the odd liquid feeling dripping down his muzzle and lips.

"Uh, Haida?" Fenneko whispered, to which Haida quickly turned his attention to her, "Your nose is bleeding."

"What?!" Haida whisper-shouted while bringing a finger to his nose, and gasping in pure horror when he saw blood staining his paw. He began to panic, as he frantically looked around for tissues or the nearest exit. He was especially worried that Mishana would see him and his pathetic nosebleed, but he looked over to find that she hadn't seemed to notice him yet.

With that in mind, Haida brought his elbow up to his face to try and hide the blood, and snatched a tissue box from someone else's desk while sprinting out of the room. Not a lot of people really paid attention to Haida's hasty escape, but Fenneko was observant of her friend's behavior as always. She could only guess that the arrival of the new employee somehow correlated with Haida's nosebleed and sudden abandonment.

_I bet he knows her, _Fenneko pondered.

Meanwhile, Haida rushed to the men's restroom and threw his face down into a sink to clean up. He didn't know how, but he somehow didn't get any blood on his clothes. He stared at his nose and muzzle for a moment, and constantly wiped a paper towel over them to make sure the bleeding stopped. It seemed that the nosebleed was just a short spurt because the flow from his nostrils stopped completely, much to Haida's great relief. If Mishana, or anyone for that matter, had seen him losing himself just by looking at a girl, he would've flipped out.

"Great. First, my crush moves on to another guy, who's amounted ta way more than I ever could, and the girl I slept with is suddenly working in the exact same office as me. Why does my life always have ta have these weird twists and turns like some Labyrinth movie?" Haida ranted to himself, leaning against the sink with one hand and rubbing his forehead with the other.

Haida was so focused on trying to calm himself, that he didn't hear the bathroom door open or the footsteps slowly approaching.

"You ok?" Anai's voice made itself known, once again startling Haida.

"U-Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Haida lied.

"Fenneko saw you run off in a hurry and figured you'd go to the bathroom to hide, so she sent me to check on you."

"What? Hide? I'm not hiding!"

"You did seem pretty spooked when you ran off. Besides, if Fenneko says something, it's normally accurate."

Haida growled in aggravation, "Fine! Yes, I'm hiding."

Anai quirked a brow in confusion, "Why? Is something wrong?"

"You could say that…"

"Ok, but what exactly _am_ I saying?"

"Trust me, it's better if ya don't know."

"If you say so," Anai stated with a shrug, "You ready to go back out?"

"I'm gonna have to go back sooner or later," Haida sighed heavily, as he begrudgingly followed Anai back to the office.

By the time they got back, everyone had gone back to their respectful computers, and Mishana was seated directly across from Fenneko. It only took a split second for Haida to realize that that seat was to the right of his, and he wasn't sure neither him nor Mishana were to face each other again.

So, with only one other escape plan in mind, Haida brought his hand up to the side of his face as he stealthily walked past Mishana and up to Ton's desk.

"H-Hey, M-Mr. Ton? Mind if I ask you somethin'?" Haida whispered shakily.

"Yes," Ton replied grimly.

"I-It'll be really quick, I swear. I-I just wanted to ask if I…could maybe…go home early today?"

Ton's neck practically creaked like an old door, as he craned it to glare daggers up at Haida.

"Go home early?" Ton repeated flatly.

"Y-Yes, please?" Haida pleaded.

As if not even thinking twice about Haida's request, Ton immediately looked back down at his paperwork and responded with a simple, "Hell no."

"What? Why not?"

"'Cause I said so. And either way, I still need you around ta help train the new girl. With Calendar out of commission for God-knows-why, I need you and Fenneko to work even harder to keep up with deadlines and train the new girl. Got it?"

Knowing he was defeated and out of luck, Haida told Ton that he understood perfectly before turning to walk back to his desk. And as he approached his desk, he couldn't help but overhear Mishana and Fenneko talking to each other.

"So, where _is_ my trainer, anyway?" Mishana asked out of curiosity.

Fenneko was just about to answer when she noticed Haida standing a few feet behind Mishana, so she grinned at him with a look of determination. Haida blinked in confusion, wondering and fearing what could be going on in the fennec's mind.

"Oh, I'm sure he's around here somewhere. He should be back soon," Fenneko calmly explained while averting her attention back to her computer as to not give away Haida's presence.

Mishana pursed her lips in thought, "Hmm—what's he like? 'Haida', was it?"

"He's pretty cool. He can be easily tempted with a bottle of beer, but he means well."

_Oh, no, _Haida thought in terror. Fenneko was telling Mishana all about his weakness and bad habits, which will only make their inevitably awkward reunion even worse. Why did he have to be close friends with someone so analytical, ruthless and cynical?

"An alcoholic, huh? Sounds like someone I've met before," Mishana chuckled.

_Crap, she's onta me! _Haida mentally screamed.

"Yeah, and he claims to be some tough edge lord, too, but he's a real softy once you get to know him," Fenneko went on.

_Fenneko, you invasive sack of sarcasm… _Haida could only shake his head, and scowl at the fennec fox as she was clearly enjoying this.

"Wait, lemme guess. He plays electric guitar," Mishana stated matter-of-factly.

Fenneko grinned and flashed Haida another quick look, "That's him alright. He loves his guitar almost as much as his crush."

_Fenneko, no! _Haida begged in his mind, even though he knew Fenneko couldn't hear him. So, he started shaking his head rapidly while waving his arms back and forth in a "please, stop" motion.

"Oh, really? Does she work here, too?"

Haida had had enough.

"Hey, Fenneko! My ears are burnin' here! If the new girl wants ta know more about me, I don't mind her askin' me herself," Haida jumped into the conversation, his eyes nervously darting between Fenneko's confident expression and Mishana's confused look.

But her confusion immediately turned to that of absolute shock when she recognized Haida.

"You?" she whispered shakily, "Y-You work here, too?"

"You two know each other?" Fenneko cut in, but her tone sounded more matter-of-factly than surprised.

"No, of course not. But, uh, could you excuse us for a second?" Mishana questioned nervously while standing, and she grabbed Haida's hand and yanked his arm as they exited the office.

She stopped and let go as soon as they were out in the hall, and she glared at Haida while whispering frantically, "What the hell're you doing here?!"

"I work here!" Haida whisper-shouted back while rubbing the hand she grabbed, "And that hurt bad, by the way."

"Who gives a damn about your hand? Why didn't you tell me you're working in the exact place that I just got hired?"

"You said we weren't supposed ta talk about each other, and you never mentioned anything about Charyman Trading."

Mishana huffed in disappointment, but it was more towards herself than Haida, "Alright, granted, it's my fault for not disclosing useful information like that. But still, you could've at least confronted me alone so that we could've avoided drawing unwanted attention."

"How the hell was I supposed to know when and where you were gonna be? This is more your fault than it is mine. If you hadn't given me that offer and rambled on about weird motivations last night, none of this would've happened and we would've met like regular people."

"I didn't force myself upon you, though. It was your decision to go through with it, too."

Arguing with this woman seemed futile at this point because Haida knew that Mishana was right for the umpteenth time. He sighed and shook his head in defeat, sulking a bit while bringing a hand to his forehead to concentrate.

"You're right…you're right, you're right. I just wish this day could've gone better. First, I wake up with a serious hangover and horrible back pains, then everyone says I look like garbage, and then we're suddenly forced to reunite under horrible circumstances," Haida rambled on in annoyance.

"Yup, sucks ta be you right now," Mishana added flatly.

"That's not helping."

"I still don't give a damn."

"Well, what do we do now?"

"Let's just pretend last night _never_ happened, and act like we don't know each other. We can't have nosy people starting some espionage or anything."

"Agreed."

With that, Mishana walked around Haida to go back into the office, but she stopped before reaching the doorway.

"Oh, and one more thing. The nosebleeds are flattering, but I'd appreciate if you'd keep them to a minimum around me," Mishana whispered demandingly before finally walking back into the office, and her statement effortlessly made Haida blush bright red.

_Great…she still saw me in my moment of weakness…this woman's gonna be the death of me, _Haida thought with sorrow.

* * *

**Yes, Mishana's last name is a reference to Miki from Devilman: Crybaby. I fuckin' ****love that show.**

**Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Theorizing and Intervening

Chapter 3 - Theorizing and Intervening

The next few hours in the office were spent on two main functions for Haida and Misha: Focusing on work and avoiding each other as much as possible. Whenever Misha needed to be taught something new, he would lie about having too much work and ask Fenneko to take over.

Of course, Haida constantly failed to hide his nervous tone and blushing face whenever he was forced to help Misha, and this didn't go unnoticed by Fenneko. She was certain that there was some unknown connection between the two hyenas, and it was driving her crazy that she didn't know anything about it.

So, she used her intellect as an social media cop to keep a close eye on them both, and even asked Kabae for help since she was just as good as her at snooping.

Eventually, Fenneko found the opportunity to spy on them when Haida left to go to the bathroom, and Misha left shortly afterwards to grab some more forms from the copier room. Haida came back a few minutes later, and Fenneko asked if he could fetch her a few more extra copies of forms for her from the copier room. Haida sighed and reluctantly agreed, much to Fenneko's delight.

Fenneko then glanced over at Kabae's desk, giving the said hippo a nod of confirmation. Kabae nodded back before also standing and leaving the room. She stealthily walked down the hall behind Haida, and made sure to only get close enough to be within hearing range.

She noticed that when Haida entered the copier room, he stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he stepped through the doorway. He was surprised to see Misha standing at the printing machine, but her back was turned towards him. Haida tried to back out of the room without getting caught, but his heel got caught on a bump in the carpet, causing him to yelp in pain when he landed on his still-sore back.

"Ow…" was all Haida managed to utter.

Misha easily heard the commotion, and quickly turned in surprise to find Haida lying on the floor.

"What're you doing?" she inquired flatly.

"Once again lying on the ground in pain and humiliation."

"I can see that, but I meant _why_ are you on the ground?"

Haida sat up and rubbed his back to try and sooth the aching, "Because we're avoiding each other?"

"We're not gonna get away with anything if we do that. Besides, I said we'd have to avoid the past, not each other. It'll only make it easier for everyone to come up with rumors if we do."

"Good point…"

Much to Haida's surprise, Misha reached a hand out to him, just like when they first met last night. She didn't say anything as she stared blankly down at him, so he figured he shouldn't make things awkward and just take her hand. Misha remained silent once Haida was back on his feet, and instantly went back to focusing on getting papers from the printer.

Haida thought about leaving and coming back when she was done, but he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that getting more comfortable around her would make it easier for them to move on. He knew it would be unbearably awkward for them both, but he figured it would be better to address the problem sooner than later.

"U-Um, since it'd be better for us to make it look like there's nothing…w-weird going on between us, maybe we should try and get to know each other," Haida nervously suggested, to which Misha looked at him curiously.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Misha simply questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe we could…go out for some drinks later?"

She blinked in surprise at that. After all the tension they've been though, Haida was trying to make an effort to make it less painful. Misha's normal plan would have been to pretend like nothing happened, and move on from there.

"I'll—think about it," Misha slowly admitted, which surprised Haida greatly.

But after realizing he had been staring blankly at her, probably for too long, Haida shook his head and cleared his throat, "Right, so…I gotta get back to work, and, uh, we'll talk about the date later."

Misha grinned while cocking a brow in a sly manner, "You're asking me out now, Casanova?"

"N-No! No, that's not what I meant. I-It's more like a—friendly get-together."

"It better be."

Haida nervously smiled and nodded, and Misha merely turned back towards the copier. But as Haida left, he failed to notice a certain pink hippo hiding behind a potted plant in the hallway; the hippo made to stay within hearing range the whole time, as the camera on her phone remained on the record Haida and Misha's conversation.

By the time Haida reached the office and sat back down, he flinched when he realized he forgot to grab more paper for Fenneko. It didn't take long for the said fennec to look up and notice the lack of paper, but she nonchalantly looked back at her computer screen.

"What took you so long?" Fenneko asked.

"Uh…couldn't find any paper," Haida nervously lied.

"Is that so? Well, don't worry about it. I forgot I had a whole stack of forms in the bottom cabinet."

Haida's eyes widened in fear. Fenneko would never make such a small mistake unless it was for one of her inevitably twisted plans to intervene. He knew that she must have had a reason to send him to the copier room, and it wasn't to get more paper. Did she somehow know that Misha would be in there, too, at the exact same time?

_Nah, that's not possible…is it? _Haida mentally reassured himself, but his comfort faltered, having known Fenneko for so long that he shouldn't be surprised by her trying something like this.

Still, he had no valid evidence to confirm his theory, so he silently went back to work.

* * *

Just as the shift ended for the accounting office workers, two employees slunk into the archive room to discuss their new findings in private. Alongside all the rumors surrounding Retsuko and Tadano, Fenneko and Kabae were more than overjoyed to intervene in another coworker's love life.

As Kabae showed Fenneko the recording of Misha and Haida's copier room conversation, the fennec fox brought a paw to her chin in deep thought. Something fishy was definitely going on between the two hyenas, and Haida was going to need all the help he can get with this kind of situation; he failed to make a move with Retsuko, so a new girl, or any girl for that matter, shouldn't be any different.

"We need to get them to go on that date," Fenneko pondered aloud, but then whipped around and pointed at Kabae, "Quick, what's the cheapest and least-conspicuous place for a first date?"

"Um, let's see…" Kabae mumbled while scrolling through locations on her phone, as Fenneko paced back and forth, "A stand-in ramen restaurant?"

"Too cheap."

"A bar?"

"Too likely to lead to a drunken and sexually-charged conversation."

"The park?"

"Too romantic."

"A baseball game?"

"Not romantic enough."

"All that's left is a coffee shop."

Fenneko's pacing came to an abrupt halt, as she smiled brightly at Kabae, "Perfect!"

* * *

**Holy shit, this story is still alive!**

**Yeah, don't worry, I'm not giving up on this story. My only excuse is that I'm lazy garbage. Also, sorry for the short chapter, it feels like filler to me. But lemme know what you think.**

**Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Punch the Apple-Holder

Chapter 4 - Punch the Apple-Holder

Waking up the next morning was something that Mishana was definitely not looking forward to, especially with the awkward tension she would have to look forward to at work.

She just had the irksome feeling that somehow, someone would figure out what was going on between her and Haida. And anyone with common sense would know that that kind of news would spread like wildfire in a small office, resulting in the metaphorical burnt forest that is her dignity.

But as Misha rode the subway to work, she was glued to her phone when she noticed a top trending article about a high-tech CEO dating what seemed to be a small office worker.

_Small office worker, huh? I wish I could strike gold that easily, _Misha thought to herself, and suddenly realized that maybe this hype would help distract everyone from the skeletons in her closet.

Misha eventually arrived at work, and headed to the women's locker room to get dressed. No sooner had she entered the room had she noticed how all of her female coworkers were also gossiping about the same article, which eased her nerves even more.

"Hey," a calm voice greeted, and Misha frantically searched for the owner of the voice until she finally looked down and saw Fenneko. Fenneko was also busy staring at her phone, but some of her attention seemed to be on Misha as they walked out of the locker room.

"Hi," Misha replied back nervously.

"Did you see that article yet?"

"Yeah. Whoever that chick is is lucky. Most people can only _dream_ of finding such a rich guy who isn't a snobby prick."

"How do you know what he's like?"

The two girls eventually entered the accounting office, and Haida couldn't help but perk his ears and listen in on their conversation.

"I can just tell by the look on his face. All bark and no bite."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Depends on who wears the pants in the relationship. If it were me, I wouldn't mind because I'm a badass either way. I'd have that pretty boy wrapped around my finger."

Fenneko finally looked up from her phone in curiosity, "So, Tadano's your type?"

Misha chuckled, "You ask a lot of questions."

"I'm inquisitive. I can't help it."

"Yeah, well, to answer your questions, I guess I couldn't care less what kind of guy I found. As long as he's not an asshole, we'd clash just fine—and I do mean that as a double entendre."

While Misha was too busy laughing at her own joke, Fenneko effortlessly noticed the blush that crept onto Haida's face. The blush darkened when Misha took her seat next to him, and he tried to ignore his embarrassment by focusing on his computer screen.

Haida's reaction to the mention of sex made the wheels in Fenneko's head turn, as she pondered every possible scenario they would want to hide. Fenneko figured she shouldn't make too many assumptions since Haida was prone to being so flustered, especially around girls.

Then again, Haida normally only acted like this when he was around a girl he really liked; Retsuko, for example. But Haida wouldn't give up his crush on Retsuko for a girl he just met—would he?

_He might just be falling in love again, after all, _Fenneko mentally noted.

* * *

The work day went a lot smoother than yesterday, much to Haida and Misha's relief. Neither of them had much trouble communicating, or ran into each other to create more awkward situations.

This didn't go unnoticed by Kabae or Fenneko, however. The hippo and the fennec knew something was still up, but they wanted to be fully aware of even the slightest changes; otherwise, their plan to play match maker might crash and burn.

Fenneko caught up with Misha after clocking out, and walked with her into the break room when the latter wanted to get something to eat. But when the two walked in, they stumbled upon the odd sight of Haida amping himself up for a fight by throwing punches at nothing in particular.

"What's all this?" Fenneko was first to ask.

"Ya have ta ask?" Haida replied without even bothering to look at them, "I'm—gonna punch Tadano!"

"That tech nerd? What'd he do ta you?" Misha questioned.

"And aren't you, like, his biggest fan?" Fenneko added.

"I was a fool before," Haida growled deeply, and whipped around to show the girls a magazine with Tadano on the cover, poking his picture with an intense index finger, "What's this apple-holding son of a bitch want with a girl like Retsuko?!"

"Oh, so just because he's holding an apple, he's automatically an asshole. I can get behind that," Misha joked with a smirk before walking over to a vending machine.

"You don't understand! This guy's gonna get bored, and break Retsuko's heart! That's why I gotta punch him right in the face!" Haida snapped.

"Real subtle with the jealousy," Fenneko informed flatly, "We all know you're not gonna punch him."

Haida scoffed while stomping out of the room, "Just you wait. It's time for some whoop-ass."

After Haida left, Fenneko averted her attention to her other hyena coworker.

"How do you think it's gonna go?" Fenneko asked.

"What? Haida confronting Tadano?" Misha began with a scoff, "Yeah, I'm stayin' outta that one, thank you very much. If he's fighting for a girl, then he should by all means go on his own. It's pretty embarrassing for a woman to fight a guy's battle, anyway."

Fenneko simply nodded, "True."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Haida's been crushing on Retsuko for years. I've been trying to help him make the first move, but he just never gets the courage."

"Huh. Haida doesn't seem like the kinda guy to back down so easily."

"What makes you say that?"

Misha shrugged, "Even if he's a bit of a pansy when it comes to sharing his feelings, he's not afraid to speak his mind most of the time. He's probably just had so much bad luck with girls in the past that he's lost so much confidence now."

Fenneko didn't know why she never thought of that before, especially since it makes so much sense. She cursed her tendency to over-think things, leading to her missing out on solutions that are just plain simple.

"I guess you're right," Fenneko admitted.

"And even if I'm wrong, who's to say Retsuko and Tadano's relationship won't go wrong, thus sending her right back into Haida's arms?" Misha rambled on after getting her snack, and nonchalantly left the break room.

Fenneko didn't have anything to say to that, as she stayed behind and thought about what Misha said. Something about Misha's phrasing made it sound like she _wanted_ Haida and Retsuko to be together. And if so, why? There were too many layers to this situation, but Fenneko was determined to break through each and every one of them.

* * *

**I wrote this in the span of two hours before work, so I'm sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed. Anyway, we're finally moving story-wise...kinda.**

**Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!**


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